"Essenes"

The Essenes were a mystic Jewish community during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE.

Their movement likely originated as a distinct group among Jews during Jonathan Apphus's time, driven by disputes over Jewish law and the belief that Jonathan's high priesthood was illegitimate. They attributed their interpretation of the Torah to their early leader, the Teacher of Righteousness,who may have been a legitimate high priest. They observed a strict hierarchy favoring priests (the Sons of Zadok) over laypeople, and emphasized ritual purity.

According to Jewish writers Josephus and Philo, the Essenes numbered around four thousand, and resided in various settlements throughout Judaea. However, Roman writer Pliny the Elder positioned them somewhere above Ein Gedi, on the west side of the Dead Sea. Josephus gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c. 75 CE), with a shorter description in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94 CE) and The Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97 CE). Claiming firsthand knowledge, he lists the Essenoi as one of the three sects of Jewish philosophy alongside the Pharisees and Sadducees

Josephus describes their piety, and priestly celibacy, as well as their absence of personal property and of mone.; They believed in communality and commitment to a strict observance of Sabbath. He also reporeted that the Essenes ritually immersed in water every morning (a practice similar to the use of the mikveh), ate together after prayer, and devoted themselves to charity and benevolence.